Saturday, May 2, 2026

Oscar Peterson - At Baker’s Keyboard Lounge: The Complete Recordings (Live)

Styles: Piano Jazz
Year: 2026
Time: 138:49
File: MP3 @ 320/s
Size: 133,6 MB
Art: Front

(4:01) 1. Autumn Leaves (Live)
(7:32) 2. Django (Live)
(4:03) 3. Confirmation (Live)
(5:31) 4. Whisper Not (Live)
(2:25) 5. Closing/Billy Boy (Live)
(4:01) 6. The Touch Of Your Lips (Live)
(5:42) 7. Ill Wind (Live)
(9:40) 8. Chicago (Live)
(5:31) 9. I Love You (Live)
(2:49) 10. Closing/Blues For Big Scotia (Live)
(5:19) 11. Dancing On The Ceiling (Live)
(4:06) 12. Politics And Poker (Live)
(4:46) 13. Where Do I Go From Here? (Live)
(4:05) 14. I Didn't Know What Time It Was (Live)
(4:22) 15. Liza (All The Clouds'll Roll Away) (Live)
(5:21) 16. Yesterdays (Live)
(5:18) 17. Softly, As In A Morning Sunrise (Live)
(6:23) 18. S'Posin' (Live)
(6:42) 19. I Remember Clifford (Live)
(6:11) 20. Let There Be Love (Live)
(4:05) 21. Swamp Fire (Live)
(1:09) 22. Closing/Intros/Blues For Big Scotia (Live)
(6:48) 23. Satin Doll (Live)
(4:10) 24. Woody ’N’ You (Live)
(9:47) 25. My Funny Valentine (Live)
(5:25) 26. Scrapple From The Apple (Live)
(3:26) 27. Closing/Intros/Billy Boy/ When The Saints Go Marching In (Live)

Being a native of Detroit, Michigan and a long-time supporter of Baker’s Keyboard Lounge, one of two jazz clubs in the United States that has stayed open consistently for over nine decades, I was eager to hear these historic, lost, live recordings by the brilliant, piano genius, Oscar Peterson.

The trio opens with “Autumn Leaves.” Oscar Peterson’s fingers fly over the keys like the wings of an eagle, fluttering powerfully, moving swiftly, but with grace.

This is folwed by a very classically flavored arrangement of “Django.”a very classically flavored arrangement of “Django.” It soon transitions into a slow swing, propelled by Ed Thigpen’s powerful drums and the rich, walking bass of Ray Brown. With the snap of a finger, Oscar Peterson transforms this arrangement into a bluesy funk tune.

The trio’s rendition of “Confirmation” swings so hard and so fast, it’s like watching Muhammad Ali’s hands at the height of his career. The speed and agility of Peterson and his bandmates challenge my fingers to snap fast enough. With the musical speed of lightning, his hands strike the keys again and again, his fingers race each other up and down the eighty-eight keys.

The song, “Whisper Not,” settles them down to a sexy, semi-slow tempo, but always with a ‘kick.’ This is a simmering ‘swing’ characteristic that Peterson puts into everything he plays. It’s like that special, secret spice grandma used in her seasonings. The one that makes us wish we had the recipe.

Off and running, next comes “Billy Boy” that’s full of joy and humor.

“Ill Wind” is a favorite song of mine. To hear Peterson’s arrangement of this pretty ballad was quite a treat. He takes us on a ride through a European classical music introduction, into a more modern jazz vernacular, then settles down into a shuffle groove that reminds me of the 1940s and Billie Holiday. The dramatic roll of Thigpen’s drums ends this creative arrangement with a bang.

On the familiar “Chicago” tune, I enjoy the Ray Brown bass solo, as well as the infectious drum rhythms that Thigpen instills in the tune. When Peterson double-times the piece over the shuffle drums, I can’t pat my foot fast enough to keep up.

This is an album of historic value and a collector’s dream. Every song is performed with clarity and creativity beyond the average imagination.By Dee Dee McNeil https://www.makingascene.org/oscar-peterson-trio-at-bakers-keyboard-lounge-the-complete-recordings/

Personnel: Oscar Peterson, piano; Ray Brown, bass; Ed Thigpen, drums.

At Baker’s Keyboard Lounge: The Complete Recordings (Live)

Champian Fulton - House Party

Styles: Vocal, Piano
Year: 2026
Time: 53:29
File: MP3 @ 320
Size: 49,6 MB
Art: Front

( 4:00) 1. The One I Love (Belongs to Somebody Else)
( 6:44) 2. I Cried for You
( 8:47) 3. Stardust
( 9:11) 4. One by One
( 7:54) 5. Get Out of Town
(10:58) 6. Billie's Bounce
( 5:52) 7. Carry Me Back to Old Manhattan

Pianist and vocalist Champian Fulton celebrates her 20th album with House Party, out April 10. Recorded live in March 2025 during an intimate evening at Turtle Bay’s headquarters, the album captures the warmth and spontaneity of a true house concert. Joined by her longtime trio bassist Hide Tanaka and drummer Fukushi Tainaka plus saxophonists Klas Lindquist and Cory Weeds, Fulton delivers a joyful set that embodies her signature swing and charm.
https://www.champian.net/news/2026/4/6/reviews-for-house-party-are-rolling-in

Personnel: Champian Fulton - Piano & Vocals; Hide Tanaka - Bass; Fukushi Tainaka - Drums; Klas Lindquist - Alto Saxophone; Cory Weeds - Tenor Saxophone

House Party

Friday, May 1, 2026

Dida Pelled - A Missing Shade Of Blue

Size: 131,9 MB
Time: 56:58
File: MP3 @ 320K/s
Released: 2016
Styles: Jazz: Guitar Jazz, Hammond Organ
Art: Front

01. Sundown (5:35)
02. I Don't Need No Doctor (5:02)
03. When I Grow Too Old To Dream (4:14)
04. Take These Chains Off My Hearth (4:38)
05. Folsom Prison Blues (3:56)
06. It's A Shin To Tell A Lie (3:59)
07. Glide On (4:20)
08. A Little Walk On Jane Street (4:10)
09. A Missing Shade Of Blue (6:05)
10. Blue Moon (4:20)
11. Five Hundred Miles (5:18)
12. Ultramarine (3:22)
13. I'll See You In My Dreams (1:53)

Guitarist and vocalist Dida Pelled previous Red Records release, Dida Pelled: Plays and Sings (Red Records, 2011) was one of my pics for Best-of-the-Year in 2011). That recording was so refreshingly organic that it has remained in my listening rotation since that time. Pelled snuck in a self-produced Modern Love Songs (2015) between Plays and Sings and the present A Missing Shade of Blue. It is as exceptional as the first recording. That said, expectations for A Missing Shade of Blue are necessarily great.

Organic. I like to use the word to describe music made with a minimum of effects and sonic engineering. Music that is like the tomato you picked off the plant in your back yard in the middle of July that is acidy tart and sporting a "realness" that is light years away from what you get at the local Walmart. It is music that is tactically genuine and real. That is the music that Dida Pelled plays. It is robust, with a freshly scrubbed sound that is both basic and advanced. Pelled is not going to dazzle you with technique save for than which is valued for what not is played. She has a Miles Davis-Count Basie bluesy brevity to her playing that makes her music irresistible.

Pelled steps out on A Missing Shade of Blue, moving well beyond the comfort zone of most jazz guitarists. Bravo that she slays the Ashford/Simpson classic "I Don't Need No Doctor" (yes, that one that Humble Pie rode to fame on Performance Rockin' The Fillmore (A&M, 1971)). But that is only the beginning. She plays a plaintive slide guitar on "Take These Chains from My Heart" and "500 Miles." This is grandly cast music, even in a jazz organ trio made up of Pelled, organist Luke Carlos O'Realy and drummer Rodney Green. This is not the 21st Century anemic attempt to capture the greasy funk of 1960's organ jazz. No, this is Pelled claiming a stake while coloring in the lines better than Wes Montgomery and Jimmy Smith.

Provocatively, the CD sleeve notes, "Dida Pelled, Guitar," which seemed curious as she both plays and sings on her previous Red Records release. It is a bit of a teaser, but Pelled does sing on the two dream-related cuts, "When I Grow Too Old To Dream" and "I'll See You In My Dreams," both showing off Pelled's remarkably plaintive and stripped down voice, full of scrubbed simplicity and genuine pathos. on "I'll See You In My Dreams," Pelled accompanies herself with her full-voiced finger- picking to a stunning solo effect. Before hearing this, I was unsure she could out-do the over-the-top creativity of her take on Johnny Cash's "Folsom Prison Blues."

Pelled cameos trumpeter Fabio Morgera and flautist Ital Kriss on Morgera's "Ultramarine," the sole bebop piece on the recording that makes a great argument Pelled's bona fides as a grand bop interpreter. As for Kriss, the flute solo on "When I Grow Too Old to Dream" is a masters class in the blues that is spectacular. Pelled is a controlled and specific artist who focuses on the simplicity of her task at hand. She digs deep into the American Southern Vernacular, extracting the blues, gospel, and country notes that swirl together like smoke formed from a fire rising. C. Michael Bailey

Personnel: Dida Pelled: guitar; Luke Carlos O’Realy: Hamnond B3; Rodney Green: drums; Fabio Morgera: trumpet (3, 6. 8, 18); Itai Kriss: flute (3, 6, 12)

A Missing Shade Of Blue mp3